The forest is filled with murderous intent, and the coolness of the morning makes people shiver even more.
Watyala and his brothers, who were holding on to the mountain fort, had been trapped by hunger for many days. They became weak and seemed to have lost the strength to draw the bowstring.
On the contrary, the Russians who have been besieging the city these days have been eating and drinking well.
Watyala even saw another ship appear on the river in the distance. It was a bigger ship than he knew. Is this the big ship that his subordinates reported before?
He didn't know how long he would be trapped, but he had a very strong feeling that reinforcements would arrive in the next two or three days.
Indeed it is!
Because, on this day, just south of the old Gray Squirrel Hill Fort, the main force of the Tavastia reinforcements, which had traveled a long distance, had encountered the Ross hunters who had penetrated here to hunt!
There were gray shadows swaying in the forest, and then silent arrows flew towards them.
The Tavastians, who were unprepared and slightly tired, were suddenly struck in the head.
Three warriors were hit by arrows, and rough diamond-shaped spear-shaped arrow clusters were pulled out. What surprised them was that the style of these arrow clusters was clearly their own.
Could this be a misunderstanding? Did the brothers who were guarding the territory think that the army coming from afar was the enemy?
Misunderstandings soon came into contact as encounters took place at at least five locations.
The Russians who hunted scatteredly were not reckless fools. They held bows or crossbows and fired arrows to attack, then ran away.
Although some Tavastians fired arrows to fight back, in the end there was not much interaction between the two sides.
The exhausted expeditionary warriors suddenly woke up, and the highest military commander, Watkard, asked all village leaders to bring their brothers closer to him.
The various small groups of Tavastia that had turned into scattered movements were now organized into a dense formation in the forest.
Realizing that something bad was going on, Hunter Ross ran out of the woods like crazy, shouting about the appearance of new enemies as he ran.
Soon, all the hunters operating in the south returned, and Rurik also learned the good news that he had dreamed of.
"Finally the fight is about to begin."
A young giant stood up, and many warriors gathered around him.
All the centurions of the Russian army were summoned to urgently participate in the military meeting, and the Balmoks were also eager to try.
"They finally came. I thought I would have to wait a few more days." Arik was very excited, his eyes filled with the desire to kill.
"I don't know how many people they have come." Biyongni asked cautiously.
Herriger was also infected by this atmosphere: "Even if five thousand people come, we will all have their heads chopped off."
Rurik looked around, coughed twice and said resolutely: "There is no need to say more to boost morale. Now call all the soldiers to me, and our army is ready to fight."
"Ah this." Arik was startled: "Brother, if our siege army withdraws, wouldn't the enemies in the mountain fort have a chance to escape?"
"Those people? They are no longer important. The meaning of their existence is to attract the main force of the enemy. Besides, I don't think they really have the strength to escape over the wall."
Rurik really didn't want to care about the guys in the mountain fortress anymore. He originally wanted an open place as a battlefield. It happened that the land pioneered by the invaders was really empty, so this place was the best battlefield.
Once a fight breaks out, the fighting will eventually reach the hillfort. Why worry about the besieged enemy escaping? They are just small characters who are dragged into the war, and they are really unable to escape.
All the hunters who retreated described seeing a group of enemies in different directions. Judging from the comprehensive intelligence, Rurik judged that the enemy array seemed to be like a large net, and they were rushing here in small groups.
Their direction of travel was so accurate that Rurik, the leader who did not know the way, could not believe it.
Since the enemy is well prepared, he should not be confident in the strength of the Russian army and despise the enemy.
But these Tavastian invaders are really hard not to despise.
Let’s have the greatest respect for these enemies who “rescue thousands of miles”!
"I want to drive them all out, and I want you to try your best to kill their men, so that this enemy will lose the ability to harass us!" This "extreme" order was given to the brothers, causing everyone to roar, and he began Deploy the military.
Why defend yourself against the enemy? Is there any better method than "pincer tactics"?
Just as shown in the decisive battle on Gotland and the British Isles' firearms against the Northumbria Kingdom's army, Rurik decided to implement this tactic. It happened that even the Balmoq allies in the army were already in the army. I learned the basic operations of this strategy during the battle in Britain.
To be honest, Rurik doesn't think the Balmoks have too high combat effectiveness, but once they are combined with their own shooting flag team, their combat effectiveness will naturally increase significantly.
In a sense, Biyuni's Balmok warriors were an auxiliary force to the shooting flag corps.
Who is the strongest person in Rurik's heart? It's your own shooting unit.
Longbowmen and crossbowmen have inherently poor self-protection and melee combat abilities as a single soldier. Once they form a group and are protected by professional melee units, the situation changes completely.
Based on this reason, the Balmoks and the Shooting Standards with a large number of heavy weapons became the center of the Ross army, while Arik's First Warriors' Standards and Heligel's Malaren Standards were on the left and right wings.
A large number of Russian soldiers gathered in Rurik's camp, and they moved openly on the edge of the forest. This move really made the exhausted defenders trapped in the isolated city stupid.
"Boss! They...are they on the run?" a tired soldier asked.
Watyala looked at him with a sallow look on his face, and shook his head vigilantly: "They are gathering troops to attack our fortress! Damn it! Brothers, don't sleep, get up and fight!"
However, the hungry people just want to lie down. Even if they climb up the wooden ladder to the wooden wall of the mountain fort, how many of them can continue to draw their bows and fight back? Many people have given up. These once confident Tavastians have been exhausted by the constant harassment (throwing stones from trebuchets) of the Russians these days. Coupled with the torture of hunger, many people thought of committing suicide to escape. .
Some people think that since the Russians are gathering, won't the siege be lifted?
However, when the person who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to escape finally stood on the wall, he saw smoke still rising from the woods in the distance, and all thoughts of escape disappeared.
Rurik asked the assembled warriors to rest in the forest. They lined up according to their positions, and then sat down to wait for work.
In this way, once the enemy suddenly appears from the forest, the Ross army can form a formation and walk out of the forest to fight the enemy decisively.
Staying in formation is critical! Rurik also had a big appetite this time. Since someone joked that the enemy might have five thousand people, the Russians were ready and resolutely maintained their formation to eat the entire enemy army.
Of course, it is also essential to boost morale before the war!
The longbowmen and trebuchets were dispatched again, and in full view of the public, they once again unleashed a barrage of firepower on the old Gray Squirrel Hill Fort, which had been beaten for many days.
The Ross army cheered for joy, and the birds in the entire forest were frightened and flew away. They spontaneously banged their shields and let out Viking war cries, and collectively stamped the ground. In the eyes of the defenders, the Rus were really going to attack the city.
Vatyala closed his eyes, unwilling to do so. He was a warrior, but he died like an ant.
A large number of stones fell from the sky, mixed with deadly arrows. On the other hand, our own soldiers dragged their exhausted bodies to hide one by one, and the weak everyone basically lost the ability to fight back.
But the Russians did not launch a general offensive.
Although the roar of the Russians was blocked by the pine forest, the vibrations caused by their frantic stamping of their feet, as well as the large number of escaping birds, proved one thing to the slowly advancing Tavastian reinforcements gathered in a group - the enemy's main force was already there. in front.
There is nothing left to say. This is a decisive battle that stakes the fate of the alliance. All village leaders and ordinary soldiers share the same hatred and continue their progress unswervingly.
The Tavastians, with as many as a thousand bow-wielding men, were in front, and the following warriors followed closely, clutching short spears.
Finally, in the evening, a group of people suddenly emerged from the supposedly quiet southern forest.
The sudden arrival of the personnel really startled the people in Yiyiluosi.
People stood up one after another, and their surprised expressions disappeared, replaced by the desire to fight, even though it was already evening.
Arik excitedly went to his brother to explain the brothers' thoughts on the battle.
"Anyone wants to challenge? No! Let everyone stay calm and wait for me."
"But the enemy is already here. No one is afraid of fighting at night."
"Fighting at night?" Rurik smiled contemptuously, "That way they will take advantage of the chaos and escape. Brother, I want to annihilate them. I don't want any enemy to escape. Don't worry, they will show up tomorrow to fight our army. Everything is fine. Follow my instructions."
The Russian forest army set up a large number of bonfires. How terrible was this scene after night fell?
The Tavastian reinforcements who first came out of the forest all retreated, leaving only a few eyes to keep an eye on the situation in the enemy camp.
Originally, they were attacked during the march and lost several brothers, which made everyone unhappy. Now that they learned that the enemy was indeed powerful, people would inevitably not feel afraid.
Didn’t they initially have high morale and feel that they were invincible? This is indeed the case, but this pride has been disrupted by the continuous march over the past six days.
The Tavastians who sat down were all resting, and people quickly learned that the Rus had broken up a huge military formation. The large number of looming bonfires in the forest explained too many things.
nervous? fear? excited? It doesn't matter anymore.
Military Governor Watkard also summoned all the village chiefs under night to hold their last military meeting before the war.
Things got a little tricky, and as the war approached, some people suddenly wanted to back down.
"They must be very strong. Their strength seems to be no less than ours. If we attack with all our strength tomorrow, we will definitely suffer heavy losses."
Watkard immediately refuted such cowardly remarks. He pointed an ax at the speaker: "Shut up! We didn't come here to be intimidated by the enemy and then run away. This is our fateful battle, and no one can escape."
Another eternal war party spoke: "The Russians have lit a lot of bonfires. Are they grilling meat? Since they are eating, why don't we launch an attack?"
"Yes!" Someone else echoed.
"No." The rational person shouted: "Brothers need to rest and eat some dried meat before fighting! We can't expect the tired people to win, and it's night."
Naturally, Watkard was not stupid enough to lead a tired army into a night attack, and besides, the Tavastians did not have experience in night attacks.
The guys in the main battle were clearly putting on a show, just to prove to everyone that they were not afraid of fighting.
Watkard ordered everyone to rest, for he had neglected to take care of any fire-making.
Soon there was a fire in Tavastia's camp. Although the fire was very dim, it could not escape the eyes of the Rus.
Everything was clear, enemy reinforcements had appeared, and while the Russians were busy sharpening their swords and eating, the people trapped in the mountain fort suddenly burst out with powerful vitality.
Vatyala suddenly gained strength. He climbed down the wooden wall along the rope with more than thirty people who still had strength, and then more than a hundred hungry people climbed out. Even though they fell heavily on the mud, They also have to drag their hungry bodies towards the forest campsites where their compatriots are.
There was a strange team moving towards him, and they were still talking in their hometown dialect as they walked?
The surprised "eyeliner" immediately understood - this was the Qianqian brothers sent out before!
Finally, the hungry Rabbi Watiya helped him into the camp and saw his eldest brother. The old man simply hugged his elder brother Watkard and cried bitterly.
"Brother! You are still alive! God bless you." He comforted his brother and brought some dried meat and water.
Those who successfully retreated were all saved, but there were still more than two hundred half-dead people lying in the mountain fort, and they were only one step away from starving to death.
The appearance of my brother was undoubtedly a gift to Watkad and all the village leaders. The man who had eaten some food to regain some strength began to explain his fierce battle with the Rus.
The younger brother's words became more and more bizarre. The Russians seemed not to be flesh and blood, but to be a group of undead monsters that came across the sea. They were vicious skinners and man-eating monsters. The cruelty of their methods and the sharpness of their weapons completely surpassed everyone. imagination.
Many people were suddenly on pins and needles after learning the true information. Many people did not say anything, but the expressions reflected in the flames clearly said "I want to escape."
By now, Watkard suddenly felt that his brother's appearance was no longer a happy event. Once he learned that the enemy was really strong and had many troops, it was strange that no one retreated and they were still confident.
At the critical moment, Watkard stood up in a hurry, looked at all the village leaders and said timidly: "My brother is frightened. The enemy is indeed strong, but we are not weak either. The stronger the enemy, the more important this decisive battle is. For Our wives, children, and our most precious mountains and forests, we cannot retreat. If we are destined to die in battle, we will die fighting for everything we protect."
Watkard also wanted to say some high-spirited words. He hoped to inspire everyone's fighting spirit and dispel some of the existing decadence. Unfortunately, looking at everyone's expressions, everyone just raised their hands and agreed on the surface. In my heart, I was afraid It is still an indelible worry.
However, everyone has no way out.
Watkard, who rushed to the battlefield as a martyr, understood that this battle was about everything.
The vast majority of people are like sand swept away by the torrent of the times, and they are all small characters.
No matter what their mood was, Tavastia was the strongest force that could be mustered. After a night's rest, everyone's bodies had recovered to a great extent. When the morning fog began to recede, they walked out one after another with various weapons. The forest, walking slowly and roaring at the same time.
The mountains and rivers were shaken, and the birds and beasts were gone.
The roar of the Tavastians is claiming that they are the masters of this area! However, the Russians did not allow it.
The Russians who had already stood up began to bang on their wooden shields and responded with Viking war cries. Others blew horns in the chaos to create momentum. In this chaos, the Russians walked out of the forest with weapons while grabbing dried fish and wheat cakes and stuffing them into their mouths.
Without saying anything, Rurik got up and put his helmet on his head. Under the protection of many guards, he and his two thousand soldiers rushed to the scene of the decisive battle...
